Sharing the Gospel in Sport
In Acts 17:22-34, the Apostle Paul provides a great template for having a gospel conversation within a secular context. But before we move through his tactical approach and contextualize it to sports, it’s important to see Paul’s motivation for doing this. We find that motivation a few verses earlier.
“Now while Paul was waiting for them at Athens, his spirit was provoked within him as he saw that the city was full of idols.” - Acts 17:16
Paul witnessed the idolatry in Athens and he was provoked. Something didn’t sit right with him. And he didn’t complain about it. He didn’t ignore it. He didn’t go street preacher on them or pull a Jonah and run the other way.
Provoked by their idol worship, Paul engaged them in conversation and found a way to connect with them before sharing about God.
I think those of us involved in sports could learn a few lessons from Paul.
Are we provoked?
It should probably bother us a little more than it does that sports are dripping with idolatry at every level.
Parents in the U.S. will spend between 30-40 billion dollars on their kids’ youth sports experience in the next year as they hope to give their children the best training, equipment, coaching, and opportunities to be the best. We can be assured that this pursuit of winning as the end goal will lead many parents to act in childish ways when referees or coaches get in the way of their kid’s path to success. In a recent survey of over 35,000 sports officials, 69% said sportsmanship at games is getting worse and 50% said they have felt unsafe while doing their jobs, attributing parents as the primary offenders.
As I write this, the University of Michigan football program is under investigation by the NCAA for allegedly running a multi-year scheme to steal opposing teams' hand signals. 24% of male and 36% of female athletes report feeling so depressed that it makes basic functioning difficult. They reported fear of losing scholarships, playing time, or even their degrees if they suffered an injury or a mental health leave of absence.
The pursuit of a win-at-all-cost attitude is witnessed at the professional level too. Lance Armstrong, who won the Tour De France seven consecutive times, was stripped of all of his accolades when he was convicted of taking performance-enhancing drugs. Armstrong estimates that he spent close to 100 million on legal fees. He is also banned for life from the sport of cycling. In an interview with BBC in 2015, Armstrong admitted that, if given the choice to choose a different path, he would “probably do it again.”
Do we even need to talk about the fans? How many of us identify so much with the team we cheer for that we refer to them using possessive pronouns like “we” and “us”?
Idolatry is anything we worship (attribute ultimate worth toward) more than God. Sport culture doesn’t just invite this idolatrous worship, it demands it from us. This should provoke us. When we see this—or even participate in it—there should be an uneasiness in our gut. But, like Paul, what if our provocation with idolatry in sport led us to engage others in gospel conversations? Luckily, Paul provides a playbook for talking to sports culture about God through how he interacted with idol worshippers from Athens. In Acts 17:22-34, Paul does five things that we would do well to take notice of and put into practice in our own efforts to share the Gospel in the context of sports.
Disclaimer: Gospel conversations don’t have to be linear. You don’t need to do these things in sequential order. These are just tips, extrapolated from Paul’s time in Athens, that may help position you to speak truth into sport culture.
Find Common Ground
In verse 22, Paul stands in the middle of the crowd and says “Men of Athens, I perceive that in every way you are very religious.” He doesn’t yell at them for worshiping false gods. He connects with them on common ground. Paul is religious too! Paul and the “Men of Athens” both worship. In saying this, Paul is able to find common ground between him and the people he is trying to share with. What does this look like in sports?
Finding common ground in sports should be pretty easy for us. You like the Lions too? You are athletes too? You play fantasy football too? Your kid plays on the team too?
All we’re looking for is a common link between us and other people. Finding common ground disarms the person next to us, even just a little bit, and opens the door for further dialogue.
Gain Cultural Fluency
In verse 23, Paul says “For as I passed along and observed the objects of your worship, I found also an altar with this inscription: ‘To the unknown god.’ What therefore you worship as unknown, this I proclaim to you.”
Paul knows enough about the gods they worship to talk shop with them. And he takes that information and finds a way to transition to telling them about God. In a way, Paul is saying: “You have been worshiping this god that you don’t have a name for. Let me tell you his name.”
He was fluent enough with their gods that he was able to transition boldly to telling them about his God. What does this look like in sports?
There is a great video from coach Billy Donovan floating around social media right now. I would encourage you to take 90 seconds and watch it. This is the work of cultural fluency in the context of sports.
"I was depressed." Billy Donovan on how he felt after winning his 2nd national championship with Florida. He was responding to a question about Tom Izzo saying he needed a 2nd title to validate his career. pic.twitter.com/Dgq1p5JNfX
— Brian Mueller (@BMueller49) April 6, 2019
As Christians, sports give us opportunities to speak truth to a culture that has no answer for why championships leave us feeling empty. Moments like these (which happen all the time in sport) give us an opportunity to, like Paul, say something like: “You have been looking for ultimate joy through sport. And while sports provide amazing emotional highs, they were never meant to satisfy our souls at the deepest level. Can I tell you what I think will satisfy that void that you are trying to fill in your life?
You can find a non-cheesy way to communicate that. But that’s the work of cultural fluency in sport. It’s things that leave athletes and coaches exasperated and wondering “I thought this would make me happy” and helping them understand why God created something better for them than legacies and records and championships.
Stay Relevant
In verse 28, Paul quotes their own poets back to them. He knows how to speak their language and he stays relevant by showing he reads the same stuff they do. Have you ever been in a conversation with a group of people where you were analyzing the game that happened the previous night and someone in the group didn’t watch it? That’s kind of what’s going on here. Paul stayed up late watching the game too. He is up to speed on everything that’s happening so he doesn’t get hit with the “You didn’t watch it” or “You didn’t read it.”
My wife just started a chaplaincy role for the new professional volleyball team in our city. She doesn’t know much about volleyball. But she knows she needs to learn quick! She needs to learn the names of the girls on the team, but also the other teams in the league. She needs to learn the positions and the strategy the coach chooses to implement. She needs to learn what’s a good call and a bad call by the referee or official. And she needs to learn if they are called referees, officials, or both.
All of this information keeps her relevant. It allows for less friction in conversations. It positions her, not as an expert in volleyball, but as someone who is competent in the game. This competency builds credibility and trust. Both of those are key components for having future gospel conversations.
Appeal to Common Sense
In verse 29, Paul uses common sense. He basically says, “Come on guys. You are smart enough to know that if God created us, we shouldn’t think he exists as something we can create from gold, silver, or stone. He created us. We can’t create him.”
In sports, we can appeal to common sense too as we engage others with the gospel. I can’t tell you how many times I have said some version of this to an athlete or coach:
“Pursuing winning is not bad. But you can’t expect that it is going to suddenly bring you lasting joy. Has it ever before? You know that soon after you win, the pressure is on to do it again. And if you don't, people are going to be looking to replace you with someone else who can get the job done. The people who cheer you today will boo you tomorrow. You need a foundation that doesn’t rest on your performance.”
I’m trying to communicate in the simplest terms: “You know that pursuing contentment through sport is fool's gold.”
Share the Gospel
You may have heard the statement: “Preach the Gospel at all times and when necessary, use words.” It’s catchy and calls us to act in ways that honor God. But at some point we have to use words. In verses 31 and 32, Paul tells them that God doesn’t take idol worship lightly and judgment is coming. This is not just about finding happiness. It’s about your actions and worship offending the God who created you. It’s time to repent and turn to him.
Paul moves from speaking their language and connecting with them to proclaiming that God’s judgment is coming if they continue on their current trajectory—and there is proof of this because Jesus was raised from the dead.
If I am being honest, this part is hard for me. I don’t like talking about God’s judgment and the penalty for our sins. I want to focus on joy and contentment in Christ. I want to direct people’s attention to a God who loves them and desires to be in a relationship with them.
But we have to tell people the truth. Apart from a relationship with Jesus, we are under God’s impending wrath. Even typing that is challenging for me.
A few weeks ago, in front of 30 college athletes in Detroit, I asked this question: “How many of you have heard that we are all children of God?” Every single one of them raised their hands. This is a lie. It’s not biblical. We can become children of God, but we are not born into God’s family. We are adopted into it. The Bible is clear that we are born not as God’s children. Quite the opposite. We are born as “children of wrath” because of our sins (Ephesians 2:3).
If we want to share the Gospel within the context of sport, we must share the full gospel.
God loves us and desires to be in a relationship with us. (John 3:16, John 17:3)
Our sin separates us from God and puts us under His righteous judgment. (Romans 3:23, Romans 6:23)
Jesus came in the form of man to live the perfect life, in our place, and die the death we deserved, in our place, to satisfy God’s wrath. (Romans 5:8, 1 Corinthians 15:3-6)
We must each individually make the decision to place our faith and trust in what Jesus did—not our own good works—to be adopted into God’s family. (John 1:12, Ephesians 2:8,9)
One Way to Share the Gospel in the Language of Sport
If you are looking for an example of how to share the gospel in the language of sport, below is a video of how I usually do it (this is just one way)
Here’s the thing, there isn’t a magical formula that, if followed, will ensure that everyone will believe and be saved.
In verses 32-34, we see that some people believed what Paul was saying. But some people mocked him. Others wanted to hear more about it. Success is not measured in who believes and receives. God gets the credit for that. Our job is to faithfully share. That’s successful witnessing. In fact, the definition of successful witnessing that we have used with Athletes in Action is this: Taking the initiative in the power of the Holy Spirit and living the results up to God.
We share. God takes it from there.
